Repair damage from Obamacare
For decades, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has asked small business owners to rank the top challenges. For more than 30 years, their No. 1 problem has been the high cost of health care.
Obamacare turned this concern into a crisis for small businesses. It fails to deliver on its main promise to make health care more affordable. For small business owners, the law has made insurance more complicated, more restrictive and more expensive. Two-thirds of small businesses report higher premiums. Sixty percent of them say their premiums have increased by double digits.
NFIB members saw this coming. Our members saw from the beginning that Obamacare would result in massive inefficiencies, fewer choices and higher costs. We fought it all the way to the Supreme Court, where it was upheld by a narrow 5-4 decision.
The American Health Care Act (AHCA), on which the House plans to vote today, is the first step in repairing the damage. It would eliminate the mandates and taxes that hamper small business and limit economic growth. It would provide flexibility by boosting health savings accounts. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would decrease the cost of premiums over 10 years.
To be sure, there is much more to be done. For example, the administration is committed to scrapping or rewriting health care regulations that drive up costs, reduce options and create compliance headaches. Congressional leaders say they are committed to additional reforms to increase competition, expand choices, and drive down premiums. To get there, AHCA must pass, and then Washington needs to follow through on other reforms to make health care affordable, flexible and predictable.
NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index has been at nearrecord levels for several months. Small business owners anticipate big changes in federal policies, including the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. If that effort stalls, small business optimism will fade, along with plans for hiring, expansion and other business activities that create economic growth.